Let’s keep following Dave’s new inventions! He’s constantly brewing ideas for fun new things to print and continues to surprise us with his out-of-the-box thinking.
Inspired by a Japanese paper cake box design online, Dave thought it would be cool to print a similar bag using a plastic mesh structure. He designed the general four-petal shape and filled it with mesh patterns. The slots at the ends of the petals join together perfectly to form the handle.
The bag design went through several trials and iterations before we produced a few successful prints that are now on the shelves. The plastic mesh bag turned out to be both practical and convenient, and it can even hold heavy rocks and books. By simply removing one petal from the handle, the bag opens easily.
Stylish and unique, this is our reusable plastic mesh bag.
Dave has also printed a pair of maracas, believe it or not. He designed them with a flat top so they can be printed directly from the bed and spaced them far apart so the extruded filament has time to cool as the print head travels between them. Since the handles are quite slim, the recycled PP plastic doesn’t have enough time to cool if the layers are printed too quickly on top of one another, which can cause the print to sag or cave in.
Spacing the two maracas apart helped solve that issue, but it introduced another challenge: thin, spiderweb-like strands forming between the two prints at nearly every layer. It’s a dreadful sight while printing, but Dave wasn’t too worried. As he put it, “It’s easy to shave them off with a box cutter, or simply burn them away.” Although trimming them leaves some scars on the surface, it’s a trade-off that works.
Inside the maracas are simply the plastic pellets we granulated for printing. To add them, Dave paused the print halfway through, poured the pellets inside, and then resumed printing to seal the maracas.
Once finished, the maracas produce a soft sound when shaken. Since they’re quieter than traditional ones, we like to call them “practice maracas.” It’s a fun project we love, and Dave is continuing to develop the design and explore possible uses. You never know which product might spark an unexpected connection or opportunity, so we’re always excited to experiment and see where these ideas lead.
